Star Wars Duel of the Fates: New Concept Art Leaks Online

It was no mystery that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was terribly received, and now everyone is curious about the original plans of initial director Colin Trevorrow. We had some concept art leaking earlier last month, but now we have 28 new images that give us another look at what could have been.

As it turns out, it seems that the concept of Rey making a new lightsaber of herself was a solid idea, and we see her brandishing it for most of her images. It also looks like Kylo had gone full villain here, and besides pulling a kintsugi on his Force Awakens helmet, the movie would have had him wearing something that looked more similar to Vader’s.

What I really thought was a waste though, is this Force vision that Rey has of all the Jedi. I especially love how Rey doesn’t just fight for the light, but embraces the darkness as well and finds a ‘balance.’ Here’s the description:

“Rey lays on the stone slab still injured. “Light fills up the space around her. Particles of energy floating up. She rises with the energy. The light engulfs the frame until we reach a place beyond what we know. The Astral Plane. Yoda, Luke, and Obi Wan appear before her. Rey: “Is this death?” Obi-Wan: “In this place, there is no such thing as death.” Yoda reveals Rey succeeded were they failed. Luke: “You choose to embrace the dark side and the light. To find the balance within.”

They offer Rey a choice to stay in the comfort of the Astral Plane or to return to the living where she will experience both love/loss. The spirits fade. Obi-Wan: “You are a Jedi, Rey Solana, but you will not be the last.”

Seeing how TROS basically ret-conned everything that The Last Jedi had set up, this movie that Trevorrow was working on feels like a more realistic follow-up. It doesn’t feel as fanservice-y, and it feels like a natural conclusion to the story of Rey and the rest of the characters. Too bad the higher-ups at Lucasfilm didn’t seem to agree.

For now, you can still catch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters.